Music-By-Michael: Concert Review: Joey Belladonna at Dingbatz in Clifton, New Jersey on August 1, 2009

It was great to see Joey Belladonna back in the area. He is one of the few acts I have actually seen in four different states (in his case, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York) over the years. There is a familiar face in the band on bass - R.C. is still jamming with Joey and two new members joined the band since I last saw Joey: Dave King on guitar and Monster Mike Merrifield on drums. They performed in a venue called Dingbatz and really delivered. The gig was hard, heavy and severe. The set mainly featured selections from Joey's time in Anthrax along with some cover tunes and one original. The opening number was "Among The Living" followed by a powerful version of "Medusa". Next up was "Madhouse" with a bit of "The Ripper" by Judas Priest thrown in during the introductory guitar part. The fourth song of the evening was "Antisocial" off of the State Of Euphoria LP. Two tracks from the Persistence Of Time era were next: "In My World" and "Got The Time" ... there was spirited audience participation for "In My World". The 22-year-old anthem "Caught In A Mosh" made the crowd go wild ... people were moshing, slamdancing, jumping off of the stage onto the floor ... crazy stuff but as can be expected at a Thrash Metal concert. It was truly raucous! The band carried on with "Efilnikufesin" with a few lines of "Bring Tha Noise" added in the beginning. After that tune was completed, Joey mentioned how he wanted to play an original called "Hard Life". "Hard Life" is a straight-forward rocker with a chorus perfect for headbanging and playing air-guitar ... hey, I still play air-guitar at these gigs. Joey even had a buddy join him on stage for the song. The band carried on with a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" followed by "Indians" from Anthrax's Among The Living album. Some of the fans had been calling for "Indians" throughout the set and they got their wish! A fantastic rendition of the song ... the crowd was pleased. At this point in the show, the fans got to hear some Ronnie Dio in the form of Black Sabbath's "Heaven And Hell" with a line from Rainbow's "Man On The Silver Mountain". The crowd was digging it. Only hardcore Anthrax and Joey fans would know the next selection ... "A.I.R." from the Spreading The Disease album. It was awesome to hear this one. The band ended the set with a savage version of the classic "Metal Thrashing Mad".

Final assessment: Joey gave the fans an excellent night of Heavy Metal music. R.C. was banging his head pounding the bass and had great stage presence. Dave was shredding on the guitar. Monster Mike was just that - a monster on the drums. As stated earlier, the performance was hard, heavy and severe! After the fourth or fifth song, Joey spotted me in the crowd (I was within two yards from the stage) with my rubbery Not-Man handpuppet, and mentioned the Not-Man I had and also said "You're everywhere". We made a couple funny comments back and forth and then he played on. During "Indians", Joey noticed a woman in the front row had her drink spilled. I am not sure if he kicked it over, but he opened a water bottle and poured some into the empty cup showing a thoughtful display of generosity. Headbangers need to stick together.

This was the full setlist:

01. Among The Living
02. Madusa
03. The Ripper/Madhouse
04. Antisocial
05. In My World
06. Got The Time
07. Caught In A Mosh
08. Bring Tha Noise/Efilnikufesin (N.F.L)
09. Hard Life
10. Foxy Lady
11. Indians
12. Heaven And Hell/Man On The Silver Mountain/Heaven And Hell
13. A.I.R.
14. Metal Thrashing Mad

Band members:
Vocals: Joey Belladonna
Bass: R.C.
Guitar: Dave King
Drums: Monster Mike Merrifield

If you want some REAL Metal performed fast and loud, be sure to check out Joey Belladonna on tour! Here are some photos of the concert (all taken, cropped and uploaded by the author):